Prerequisites: Successful completion of Year 3
Additional Requirements:C-form is requiered to be submitted to Candice Russell at crrussell@seton.org

Responsible Faculty Director:Jayson Aydelotte, MDOther Faculty:

Location to Report on First DayContact Candice Russell at crrussell@seton.org or 512-324-7860

Periods Offered1-13including Period 12 (June), including the holiday vacation Period 13 (Dec)

Maximum Enrollment1

Goals

1. To gain experience in the evaluation and treatment of patients with clinical problems in general surgery. 2. To gain experience in the skills and work habits necessary to function as a houseofficer on a General Surgery service.

Objectives

1. Should be able to perform initial and subsequent patient assessments, write appropriate admission and subsequent orders, and develop management and diagnostic plans for patients with general surgery problems. 2. Should gain technical skills in examination, common diagnostic and technical procedures, and operative technique.

Description of course
activities

Within limits set by law and hospital rules, will function with the same responsibilities and duties as an intern or first year house officer. Students will have same hours and call responsibilities as an intern. Students will function as a member of the adult general surgery team. They will be expected to follow patients in the intensive care units and make daily reports on rounds regarding their condition. Such reports are expected to include an assessment of the patient’s condition with recommendations for further evaluation or changes in therapy based on that assessment. All senior students are expected to assist in the operating room and attend all outpatient clinics. Senior students will be expected to see inpatient consults and present to residents and faculty. Student will spend two weeks on A Team and two weeks on B Team

Type of students who would
benefit from the course

This course will be especially useful for those students planning careers in surgery in general, General and Thoracic Surgery specifically, Intensive Medicine and Anesthesiology. To enroll, UTMB students should submit a C-form to Candice Russell at crrussell@seton.org for approval. Visiting students should submit an application through VSAS: https://services.aamc.org/20/vsas/public/school/instID/174 Select UTMB at Galveston as the host institution and indicate you wish to take SURU 4032 on the application.

What expectations do you have for the
student to demonstrate participation in the elective (e.g. small group
activities, seminars, thoughtful questions, providing resources, journal
club, resident lecture attendance)?

They are to participate in those conferences and activities that the surgical team to which they are assigned participates.

6. Other Modes of Evaluation

Please explain below.

Clinical evaluation by upper level residents and faculty.

7. If this course is an Acting
Internship, please
complete the following:

A.

Specify how the student will be given formative feedback on their clinical skills.

Formative feedback will be given to the student throughout the rotation in a multidimensional and timely manner. The student will receive this feedback to help improve their clinical skills in the operating room, emergency room, hospital wards, and clinic. The feedback will be given by surgery faculty and residents and aimed at specifically improving the student’s technical skills, information gathering, and ability to execute surgical plans and decision making.

B.

List advanced clinical skills that a student will be assured an opportunity to practice.

The student on acting internship will have the opportunity to practice more advanced skills in the operating room, with more procedural autonomy given versus those during the standard clinical rotation. This will be done under the direct guidance of surgery faculty and residents. The student will also have the ability to be more independent in their evaluation and workup of new surgery consults in the hospital.

C.

List other advanced clinical skills that a student may be exposed to depending on clinical case availability.

The student will have the opportunity to act in a “supervisory” role of third year students, in that they will help organize some of the clinical activities on the service. For example, the acting intern may help coordinate case assignments for junior students in an effort to improve case coverage in the OR.

D.

How will the acting intern student have responsibilities similar to a PGY1 resident? How will their responsibilities differ?

The acting intern will have similar responsibilities to a PGY1 resident during some cases in the OR. They will be able to be the “primary” surgeon on some straightforward cases under the direct supervision of surgery faculty and residents. The acting intern will also have the opportunity for more autonomous patient workups, and delivery of care, similar to an intern.
Unlike a PGY1, the acting intern will not be in a position to be completely independent, and will always have appropriate resident and faculty supervision.

E.

How will this course help prepare a student enter an internship in this field or a related field?

This course will prepare the acting intern by putting them in a more graduated role of responsibility, with the ability for independent decision making. They will be given more responsibility in the OR and start practicing advanced technical skills which will help during the transition to internship.

F.

How will midpoint feedback be provided to the student? How will you remediate deficiencies identified at midpoint?

Midpoint feedback will be given to the student during a one-on-one meeting with the course director. Deficiencies will be addressed directly by the course director and followed-up by him during the ensuing weeks in the clinical setting.

G.

Acting Internship students often seek letters of recommendation following their experience. How many different faculty are they likely to encounter during this course? What is the usual number of working days they can expect to encounter the same individual faculty member? Describe the degree of supervision and interaction with faculty vs. residents or other providers.

There are 7 (seven) faculty on the surgery service with whom the acting intern will interact. The student will likely interact with the same faculty during 4-5 days of the week. The student will have significant interaction with faculty on a daily basis, including direct supervision and feedback.